If you think XML is bad

Then consider this, as it could be a lot worse:

UNA:+.? 'UNB+UNOC:2+STUB+BLA+960209:0843+72'UNH+0000090001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+220+B00404'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471949086:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRQ+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:10'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8216'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+2'PIA+5+0471949000:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Cherry'IMD+F+011+:::Gordon E'IMD+F+050+:::Birmingham'IMD+F+060+:::a study in geography, hislanning'IMD+F+110+:::Chichester'IMD+F+120+:::Wiley(John)(W Sussex)'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::254p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 24cm. - Bibl.?: P.237-244.'IMD+F+270+:::39100200?:Urban studies'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:37.5:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:9'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8217'RFF+BFN:S.KON.39'LIN+3'PIA+5+0471957542:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:11'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8218'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+4'PIA+5+0521435145:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:13'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8220'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'LIN+5'PIA+5+0077090632:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Wenlock'IMD+F+011+:::Alison'IMD+F+050+:::The AS/400'IMD+F+060+:::built for business'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::McGraw-Hill Book Co in Europe'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::134p'IMD+F+181+:::; 25cm. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::The IBM McGraw-Hill series'IMD+F+270+:::61100200?:Computers'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1678043'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:24.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:1'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8221'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+6'PIA+5+0521474620:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:65:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:14'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8222'RFF+BFN:S.KON.41'LIN+7'PIA+5+0133361993:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Shepperd'IMD+F+011+:::Martin'IMD+F+050+:::Foundations of software measurement'IMD+F+110+:::Hemel Hempstead'IMD+F+120+:::Prentice-Hall Interl Inc'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::234p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibls. - Index'IMD+F+270+:::61305050?:Software engineering'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:3'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8224'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+8'PIA+5+0198549512:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Evans'IMD+F+011+:::Julian'IMD+F+050+:::A wood of our own'IMD+F+110+:::Oxford'IMD+F+120+:::Oxford University Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::158p'IMD+F+181+:::?: ill ; 25cm'IMD+F+270+:::76020000?:Forestry'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:Julian Evans ; with illustrati:ions by John White and Stephen Evan'IMD+F+300+:::s'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:17.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:4'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8225'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+9'PIA+5+0333628896:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Barraclough'IMD+F+011+:::Solon L'IMD+F+050+:::Forests and livelihoods'IMD+F+060+:::the social dynamics of den in devel:oping countries'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::259p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.245-253. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::76302500?:Tropical forests'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:by Solon L. Barraclough and Kr:rishna B. Ghimire'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:45:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:6'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8227'RFF+BFN:S.KON.23'LIN+10'PIA+5+0333645545:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Tyrrell'IMD+F+011+:::A J'IMD+F+050+:::Eiffel object-oriented programming'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::283p'IMD+F+181+:::; 24cm. - Bibl.?: p.281. - Index'IMD+F+190+:::Macmillan computer science series'IMD+F+270+:::61305015?:Object-oriented programmin:g'IMD+F+300+:::1st Series Id?:E1108662'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:16.99:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:7'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8228'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'UNS+S'CNT+2:10'UNT+165+0000090001'UNH+0000170001+ORDERS:D:93A:UN:EAN007'BGM+224+B00405'DTM+137:19960209:102'NAD+BY+++STADT- UND UNIVERSITAETSBIBLIOTHEK:FRANKFURT+BOCKENHEIMER LANDSTR. 134-138+FRANKFURT+++DE'RFF+API:DE114110388'RFF+IT:STUB'NAD+SU+++B.H.BLACKWELL'CUX+2:GBP:9'LIN+1'PIA+5+0471960047:IB'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDILIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:12'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8219'RFF+BFN:S.KON.E.631'LIN+2'PIA+5+0126487200:IB'IMD+F+050+:::The Multimedia dictionary'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Academic Press'IMD+F+170+:::1995'IMD+F+180+:::351p'IMD+F+181+:::; ; 23cm'IMD+F+270+:::61756500?:Multi-media applications'IMD+F+300+:::Note?:edited by H. Sleurink'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:19.95:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:2'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8223'RFF+BFN:S.KON.13'LIN+3'PIA+5+0333556453:IB'IMD+F+010+:::Medema'IMD+F+011+:::Steven G'IMD+F+050+:::Ronald H. Coase'IMD+F+110+:::London'IMD+F+120+:::Macmillan Publishers'IMD+F+170+:::1994'IMD+F+180+:::205p'IMD+F+181+:::; 23cm. - Bibl.?: p.192-203. - Inde'IMD+F+270+:::27651202?:Economic analysis/theory'QTY+21:1'FTX+ACB+3++TEST EDLIBE'PRI+YYY:40:CA:SRP'RFF+QNB:00023302:5'DTM+171:19960208:102'RFF+LI:8226'RFF+BFN:S.KON.07'UNS+S'CNT+2:3'UNT+55+0000170001'UNZ+2+72'

>>7
I wish this were true. However, there are some fucking disgusting issues that make XML much harder to redo with s-expressions if you want to keep all of it, such as the behaviour of free text and the retarded difference between element attributes and subelements.

>>13
Lol, truth

>>14
Enjoy your ENTERPRISE software solutions.

>>16
it is not binary so it is platform independant.
You fail on several levels. Also, ODF and OOXML are memory dumps with angle brackets.

>>17
gb2/your enterprise, your manager needs to increase his profits and wants you to reduce TCO, now GTFO my /prog.

>>18
This man speaks the truth.

>>22
In practise, I can speculate that 99.99999999% of the time, all data described in XML would be parsed/modified without any human intervention.
Which means it was stupid to use XML in the first place. But it's all the rage, it's enterprise, you gotta use it for your mission-critical business solutions.